Downside Ghosts series
Downside Ghosts series, also known as the Chess Putnam series is written by Stacia Kane, who also wrote the Megan Chase series. Genres and Sub-Genres Urban Fantasy / Dystopian Brief Series Description or Overview ✥ The Chess Putnam series is a cross between Ghostbusters and Escape From New York, with an awesome punk rock soundtrack, black magic, greasers, drugs, human sacrifices, and a black 1969 Chevelle. – from StaciaKane.com ✥ BLURB: The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen, and the living are under attack. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully tattooed witch and freewheeling ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for banishing the wicked dead. But Chess is keeping a dark secret: She owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump, who wants immediate payback in the form of a dangerous job that involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust for a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah. ~ Goodreads | Unholy Ghosts Lead's Species * Witch Primary Supe * Ghosts What Sets it Apart *The main character has a drug addition. Narrative Type and Narrators * First Person narrative by Chess Putnam. Books in Series Downside Ghosts / Chess Putnam series; # Unholy Ghosts (2010) # Unholy Magic (2010) # City of Ghosts (2010) # Sacrificial Magic (2012) # Chasing Magic (2012) # Untitled (no set release date) Shorts, Anthologies and Guides *0.1. The Brave Tale of Maddie Carver (2010) ~ prequel, free story *0.5. "Finding Magic" (6/2012) ~ e-book novella *1.5. "Wrong Ways Down" (8/2013) ~ e-book novella *3.5. "Rick the Brave" in Home Improvement: Undead Edition Anthology (8/2011) *3.6. "Home" (4/2012) ~ e-book novella *5.5. "Close to You" (2013) * Keeping It Close: A Short Story (2013) Other Writings Megan Chase series: # Personal Demons (2008) # Demon Inside (2009) # Demon Possessed (2010) Other Series by Author onsite Megan Chase series World Building Setting * Downside * Eternal City * Triumph City Supernatural Elements Witches, ghosts, ghost hunter, con psychic, psychopomp, binding spell, , , Glossary: * Church of Real Truth: saved the world from masses of murderous ghosts, now they on top, controlling everything * City of Eternity: murderous ghosts have been banished to there by the Church of Real Truth 'Groups & Organizations': * Church of Real Truth: * The Lamaru: An evil magic sect World At the top of this world is the Church, which saved the world 24 years ago when all of dead arose as ghosts and killed millions of people. The Church was able to banish most of the ghosts to the City of Eternity, a huge underground cavern where the dead are imprisoned forever. Unfortunately, some ghosts still remain on earth, haunting various locations that are generally related to their previous mortal lives. Ghosts in this world lose their humanity after death, existing as vicious spirits seeking to kill as many humans as possible. If they remain on mortal earth, they can manifest into beings solid enough to brandish lethal weapons—not to mention their very sharp fangs. The only protection people have against the ghosts is the Church and its witches, who are the only ones with the ability to banish ghosts to the City of Eternity. Now, most citizens believe in no god and have no faith; they believe only the "Truth" of the Church. At the end of the first book, Chess has two love interests: Terrible, Bump's thuggish enforcer, and Lex, her drug dealer and the son of Slobag, a rival drug dealer. She has feelings for both of them but believes that each wants her only for sex. Chess's romantic situation changes as the series progresses as she eventually begins to finds true love with Terrible, although her romantic path is, of course, filled with anguished self-deprecation and stormy misunderstandings every step of the way. Protaogonist Caesura ("Chess") Putnam has all of those traits of a UF heroine—sarcastic, brave, good-hearted, etc—but, they are overpowered by her horrific drug addiction, which began during her childhood when various foster parents fed her drugs to keep her passive and easy to control. Now, Chess is a full-blown junkie, using vast quantities of pills and powders to get through each and every day. She uses her drugs to blot out memories of extensive abuse during a childhood spent in a series of awful foster homes where she was routinely subjected to horrific sexual abuse and other torturous treatment. Although the drugs frequently muddle her mind, Chess is a powerful witch and has a successful career working for the Church as a debunker, investigating citizens' claims that ghosts are haunting their homes. Her self-image is mostly negative; she views herself as one big scar—unlovable and unwanted by anyone. This self view causes huge problems in both her professional, and especially in her personal, relationships. Chess is a heartbreakingly courageous heroine as she keeps trying to play the cards she has been dealt in life. Kane does a great job with the development of Chess's character as the series progresses. Chess is always conflicted between her job with the Church and her debt to Bump, and she must also deal with her relationship with Terrible as the two become closer and closer. Terrible is a totally non-typical hero, but as loutish as he may appear when you first meet him in Unholy Ghosts, his character grows gradually into a gentle and loving companion to Chess as the series goes on, even though he maintains his gruff and brutish exterior to everyone else. The plots are well developed, and the action is compelling. ~ from: Fang-tastic Fiction: Stacia Kane: CHESS PUTNAM/DOWNSIDE GHOSTS Sidekick Name: — What: — Sidekick-to: — About: — Book First Seen In: Characters Chart resources to fill out list: *Unholy Series Wiki *Fang-tastic Fiction: Stacia Kane: Chess Putnam / Downside Ghosts * Downside Ghosts Series ~ Shelfari To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column. Or, in Source Mode: copy-paste rows. Author Stacia Kane ''' * '''Website: Stacia Kane * Genres: Bio: Stacia Kane is the author of the light-hearted romantic urban fantasy "Megan Chase" series starting with PERSONAL DEMONS. She currently writes the gritty dystopian urban fantasy "Downside" series starring Chess Putnam and featuring ghosts, human sacrifice, drugs, witchcraft, punk rock, and a badass '69 Chevelle. She bleaches her hair and wears a lot of black. ~ Goodreads | Stacia Kane Cover Artist Artist: Juliana Kolesova * Website: --<{Juliana Kolesova}>-- — books 1–3 * Source: Juliana Kolesova: Illustrator and: ISFdb Publication Listing Artist: David Stevenson—books 4 and 5. * Source: Publication Listing Awards Publishing Information * Publisher: Del Rey * Author Page: * Bk-1: Paperback, 339 pages, Pub: May 25-2010, ISBN-0345515579 Book Cover Blurbs ✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Unholy Ghosts (2010): The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen, and the living are under attack. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully tattooed witch and freewheeling ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for banishing the wicked dead. But Chess is keeping a dark secret: She owes a lot of money to a murderous drug lord named Bump, who wants immediate payback in the form of a dangerous job that involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust for a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah. ~ Goodreads | Unholy Ghosts ✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Unholy Magic (2010): ENEMIES DON'T NEED TO BE ALIVE TO BE DEADLY. For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job. As an agent of the Church of Real Truth, Chess must expose those looking to profit from the world's unpleasant little poltergeist problem--humans filing false claims of hauntings--all while staving off any undead who really are looking for a kill. But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a new "celebrity" assignment while trying on her own time to help some desperate prostitutes. Someone's taking out the hookers of Downside in the most gruesome way, and Chess is sure the rumors that it's the work of a ghost are way off base. But proving herself right means walking in the path of a maniac, not to mention standing between the two men in her life just as they--along with their ruthless employers--are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown. Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire. ~ Goodreads | Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts, #2) ✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—City of Ghosts (2010): IT’S A THIN LINE BETWEEN ALIVE AND UNDEAD. Chess Putnam has a lot on her plate. Mangled human corpses have started to show up on the streets of Downside, and Chess’s bosses at the Church of Real Truth have ordered her to team up with the ultra-powerful Black Squad agency to crack the grisly case. Chess is under a binding spell that threatens death if she talks about the investigation, but the city’s most notorious crime boss—and Chess’s drug dealer—gets wind of her new assignment and insists on being kept informed. If that isn’t bad enough, a sinister street vendor appears to have information Chess needs. Only he’s not telling what he knows, or what it all has to do with the vast underground City of Eternity. Now Chess will have to navigate killer wraiths, First Elders, and a lot of seriously nasty magic—all while coping with some not-so-small issues of her own. And the only man Chess can trust to help her through it all has every reason to want her dead ~ Goodreads | City of Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, #3) by Stacia Kane ✤ BOOK FOUR BLURB—Sacrificial Magic (2012): READING, WRITING, AND RAISING THE DEAD. — When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess. Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks. As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice ~ Goodreads | Sacrificial Magic (Downside Ghosts, #4) by Stacia Kane ✤ BOOK FOUR BLURB—Chasing Magic (2012): A DEADLY HIGH Magic-wielding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush. But when someone with money to burn and a penchant for black magic starts tampering with Downside’s drug supply, Chess realizes that the unlucky customers are paying with their souls—and taking the innocent with them, as the magic-infused speed compels them to kill in the most gruesome ways possible. As if the streets weren’t scary enough, the looming war between the two men in her life explodes, taking even more casualties and putting Chess squarely in the middle. Downside could become a literal ghost town if Chess doesn’t find a way to stop both the war and the dark wave of death-magic, and the only way to do that is to use both her addiction and her power to enter the spell and chase the magic all the way back to its malevolent source. Too bad that doing so will probably kill Chess—if the war doesn’t first destroy the man who’s become her reason for living. ~ Goodreads | Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts, #5) by Stacia Kane First Sentences # Unholy Ghosts — Had the man in front of her not already been dead, Chess probably would have tried to kill him. # Unholy Magic — Ghosts were stronger underground; no witch willingly went below the surface of the earth, not without a Church edict or a death wish. # City of Ghosts — The guillotine waited for them, its blackened wood dark and threatening against the naked cement walls of the Execution Room. # Sacrificial Magic — Had the roof over her head not been a broken mess, shredded insulation and pieces of tile dangling like the rotting innards of the living thing it had once been, she wouldn’t be getting hit on the head with cold droplets of water at odd, annoying intervals. # Chasing Magic — All of the documents were in place: the Affidavit of Spectural Fraud, the Statement of Truth, two Orders of Imprisonment and two orders of Rellinquishment, and, of course, the list of Church approved attorneys. Quotes *Stacia Kane Quotes (Author of Unholy Ghosts) ~ GR *Downside Ghosts Series ~ Shelfari - quotes per book Trivia *Lists That Contain Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, #1) by Stacia Kane *Lists That Contain Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts, #2) by Stacia Kane *Lists That Contain City of Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, #3) by Stacia Kane *Lists That Contain Sacrificial Magic (Downside Ghosts, #4) by Stacia Kane *Lists That Contain Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts, #5) by Stacia Kane Awards Read Alikes (similar elements) Addicts * Annabelle Lee series * Arcane Underworld series * White Trash Zombie series * Wicked Lovely series Ghosts as main sure * Ghost Seer series * Jensen Murphy, Ghost for Hire series * Greywalker series * Zoe Martinique series * Ghost Finders series * Alex Craft series General * Hollows series * Jill Kismet series * Kate Daniels series * Alex Craft series * Deadtown series * Disillusionists series, The See Category links at bottom of page. Notes See Also * Stacia Kane * Home Improvement: Undead Edition * ~ * UF Book Release Schedules * List of Sidekicks * List of Vampires of Urban Fantasy * Characters (category) * Lists and Articles - Category: Urban Fantasy Wiki * Urban Fantasy Links See Category links at bottom of this page External References Books: * Books | Stacia Kane ~ Author * Downside Ghosts series by Stacia Kane ~ Goodreads * Stacia Kane ~ FF * Downside Ghosts / Chess Putnam - Series Bibliography ~ ISFdb * Downside Ghosts Series ~ Shelfari * FictFact - Downside Ghosts (Chess Putnam) series by Stacia Kane ~ FictFact * Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane ~ LibraryThing *Series Reading Order: Downside Ghosts ~ Red Hot Books *Stacia Kane – Downside Ghosts Series Reading Order: - Maryse's Book Blog Summaries: *Fang-tastic Fiction: Stacia Kane: Chess Putnam / Downside Ghosts Characters, etc: *Unholy Series Wiki *Fang-tastic Fiction: Stacia Kane: Chess Putnam / Downside Ghosts * Downside Ghosts Series ~ Shelfari Series Reviews: *Series review: Downside Ghosts series by Stacia Kane - The Book Swarm *Review of Stacia Kane’s Downside series | Paranormal Haven Book Reviews: *REVIEW: Unholy Ghosts #1 by Stacia Kane | Dear Author *Unholy Ghosts #1 by Stacia Kane : Book Review ~ Love Vampires *Unholy Magic #2 by Stacia Kane : Book Review ~ Love Vampires *City of Ghosts #3 by Stacia Kane : Book Review ~ Love Vampires Interviews: *Frequently Asked Questions | Stacia Kane *Author Interview: Stacia Kane *Author Spotlight: Stacia Kane, Plus a Giveaway! - The Readventurer *Interview With Stacia Kane | Wicked Lil Pixie Reviews *Interview with the Downside Master ~ Stacia Kane!!! » Badass Book Reviews *Stacia Kane Q&A: Church documents, Downside | Vampire Book Club *Ep 10: Interview with Stacia Kane - Tale Chasing *PAF: Interview with Stacia Kane + giveaway! | Tynga's Reviews *▶ Stacia Kane UNHOLY GHOSTS--Downspeech Q&A Dragoncon 2009 - YouTube *Sci-Fi Fan Letter: Stacia Kane, Author Interview *The Literary Project: An Interview with Stacia Kane *Interview with Stacia Kane | Michele Lee *Novels On The Run: INTERVIEW - STACIA KANE - 'DOWNSIDE GHOSTS' *Interview w/ Stacia Kane! | Larissa and Friends' Bookish Life *Interview with Stacia Kane plus Giveaway | Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks *Interview, Chat and Contest with Author Stacia Kane | Bitten by Books *Demons, Ghosts, and a Psychic Smackdown: An Interview with Stacia Kane Articles: *ALPHA reader: Fan Letter Blog Crawl: Dear Stacia Kane . . . *What's In Store For Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts Series? - Maryse's Book Blog *The Glorious Return of Stacia Kane’s Downside Saga — Barnes & Noble Blog *Paranormal Picks: The 10 Best Urban Fantasy Series | All Things Urban Fantasy Author: *Stacia Kane ~ official website *Stacia Kane - Wikipedia *Stacia Kane ~ Live Journal Community, Fan Sites: *Stacia Kane ~ Live Journal *(2) Stacia Kane ~ FB *StaciaKane (@StaciaKane) | Twitter Gallery of Book Covers 1. Unholy Magic (7-2010).jpg|1. Unholy Ghosts (2010—Downside Ghosts series) by Stacia Kane—cover art: Juliana Kolesova|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6261189-unholy-ghosts Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts #2) by Stacia Kane .jpg|2. Unholy Magic (2010—Downside Ghosts series) by Stacia Kane—cover art: Juliana Kolesova|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6557156-unholy-magic City of Ghosts (Downside Ghosts #3) by Stacia Kane.jpg|3. City of Ghosts (2010—Downside Ghosts series) by Stacia Kane—cover art: Juliana Kolesova|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7243411-city-of-ghosts Home Improvement- Undead Edition (Sookie Stackhouse -11.1 ) by Charlaine Harris .jpg|3.5. Home Improvement: Undead Edition (2011) edited by Charlaine Harris— "Rick the Brave" by Stacia Kane, Downside Ghosts series|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9450406-home-improvement Sacrificial Magic (Downside Ghosts #4) by Stacia Kane .jpg|4. Sacrificial Magic (2012—Downside Ghosts series) by Stacia Kanee—cover art: David Stevenson|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8786358-sacrificial-magic Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts #5) by Stacia Kane .jpg|5. Chasing Magic (2012—Downside Ghosts series) by Stacia Kane—cover art: David Stevenson|link=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12084655-chasing-magic Category:Witches as Main Supe Category:Ghosts as main Supe Category:Vamp, Demon, Monsters Hunters as main supe Category:Supe-Mage Mafia, Mob, Gangsters… Category:Addicts & Supe Drugs Category:Addict in Lead Category:Cultists Category:Magic Users Category:Witches Category:Ghosts and Spirits Category:Dystopian or Post Apocalyptic Category:Fictional Setting Category:Series Category:Female Lead